Wisconsin native, conservative critic of everything.
"Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God." ---G K Chesterton
"The only objective of Liberty is Life" --G K Chesterton
"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions" --G K Chesterton
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Brew City Brawler--Wrong on the Facts

It's a cute play--thousands of bumper stickers proclaim that "You Cannot Be Catholic and Pro-Abortion."

But the difference is that the bumper sticker is true. Brew City's aphorism is--false. The official Church teaching remains that a State may impose the death penalty, although the teaching presents qualifications which are a high bar. At the same time, Church officials (including John Paul II) are opposed to using the death penalty, particularly in wealthy Western states where life-incarceration is an affordable option.

Want Catholicism? Try the Catechism, not al-Reuters--or Brew City Brawler.

1. We are writing to ask that you affirm Wisconsin’s 153-year commitment to human life by voting “NO” on the upcoming advisory referendum to restore the death penalty.

2. We oppose the death penalty because we value human life, even when that life might seem unworthy to us. For Catholics, being “pro-life” means protecting life at all stages, from conception to natural death. A selective approach that values human life only in certain circumstances is inconsistent with who we are as a people of faith.

3. It is true that in the past the Church accepted the death penalty. But such use of lethal force by the state was strictly conditioned and limited. The Catechism of the Catholic Church now states that if “non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.” (# 2267) That was the point Pope John Paul II made in his 1995 letter, The Gospel of Life (# 56). "Today," the Pope concluded, "as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent."

Now if the bishops would quote the Catechism when denying pro-abort politicians the Eucharist, or censuring errant theologians at catholic universities, we'd be getting somewhere. Yes, we should respect the right of State to do what is permitted it, but we should not be cheerleaders for it when it conflicts with our Faith. D'ya get that, Sen. Kerry?